3. Apprentices and Freemen

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Usually, around the age of fourteen, boys and some girls were bound apprentice in order to learn a trade. They would normally serve seven years before being qualified to work in that trade themselves. At that point, they could choose to become freemen when they would be given certain privileges denied to ordinary unskilled labourers. This chapter explains what records you may find if your ancestor was apprenticed or became a freeman. It includes: